Chamber honors Kilgore News Herald publisher as 2014 Citizen of the Year

Bill Woodall, publisher of the Kilgore News Herald, was named the 2014 Citizen of the Year by the Kilgore Chamber of Commerce during the organization’s ‘Evening Under the Stars’ end-of-year banquet. 

“Until Kilgore, I’d never lived any place longer than eight years,” Woodall said. “I’ve always said to be in the newspaper business you have to be about half-Bedouin, willing to load your camera and your tent on a camel and take off at a moment’s notice. I guess when I arrived here I laughed that I burned the tent and shot the camel. It appears as if maybe that’s true, and it feels as if I’m here for the duration.”

Board chairman Bob Martin praised the chamber’s citizen of the year selection. “I don’t think there could be anybody more deserving of this honor than Bill,” he said. “It’s an honor of mine to be a friend of his over this past year.”

In addition to his service on the chamber’s board of directors and its Mt. Kilgore Snow Hill Committee, Woodall is an active participant in the Kilgore United Fund’s annual campaign, helping plan and execute the fundraising push.

A member of Kilgore Historical Preservation Foundation and supporter of the Kilgore Community Concert Association, Woodall volunteers on the board of the Rusk County Boys & Girls Club Kilgore Unit and serves as chairman of the Kilgore Main Street Program Advisory Board and the City of Kilgore’s Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone Board.

An East Texas native, Woodall is an alumnus of Jacksonville High School, Lon Morris College and North Texas State University.

“His parents, Woody and Fern, introduced him to the newspaper industry at a young age,” 2013 Citizen of the Year David Hampton told the chamber’s members at the event.

Woodall purchased the Kilgore News Herald on Nov. 1, 2001 and – with his wife and co-publisher, Jessica – currently employs more than 20 people in Kilgore in addition to others throughout his Bluebonnet Publishing group, including eight newspapers alongside local printing operations.

“It goes without saying, our 2014 Citizen of the Year is an active participant in the community and a member of the Kilgore Chamber of Commerce, dedicated to helping downtown thrive and ‘Keeping It In Kilgore,’” Hampton said. “This recipient is not afraid to get hands dirty and is an annual participant in Kilgore Improvement & Beautification Association’s Make Kilgore Shine ...

“Bill, as a friend and as great one that helps Kilgore tremendously, congratulations.”

Woodall praised the past recipients of the citizen of the year award – in recent years, Travis Martin earned the honor in 2009 followed by Pat Nault in 2010, Pam DeCeault for 2011 and Hampton for 2013.

“I can imagine very few things in life better than being included in the same paragraph as David Hampton and Travis Martin, past citizens of the year, who are just outstanding people,” Woodall said. 

“I’ll never ever, ever be able to contribute to this community the way so many of you in this room have. To be part of this group is a remarkable honor, above all, thank you for this.”

BY JAMES DRAPER - KILGORE NEWS HERALD